I love teaching. It gives me a chance to see and interact with people as they are experiencing raw food recipes. I love the energy and the exchange of ideas.
Last night I taught a class at Lakewinds Natural Foods on Desserts. I wanted to create a class that would teach people the basics so they could branch off and use what they learned to make their own recipes! We started with a cashew cream. I showed them how to turn that into a chia seed pudding, and then cashew whipping cream. From there, we made a basic nut crust that when combined with the cashew whipped cream and filling ingredients, became a Cranberry Pecan Tart! Topped off with a great chocolate ganache, the class was thrilled to learn these basics that they can use in their raw food kitchens.
Wanting a fun and festive recipe, I came up with the idea for the tart while planning the class. What could be more festive than cranberries during the holidays? Tarts are simple and beautiful. You will be amazed at how easy this is to throw together, and how much your family and friends will love it!
Cranberry Pecan Torte
Makes 1- 10” Torte
Chocolate Crust:
- 2 cups almonds* finely ground
- 1/4 cup cacao powder
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
Mix together almonds, cacao and coconut oil. Pat in tart shell.
*I used almonds that had been presoaked and dried in the dehydrator.
Filling :
- 2 cups cashews, soaked
- 1 1/2 cup filtered water
- 1 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup agave nectar
- 1 cup fresh cranberries, chopped
- 3/4 cup pecans, chopped
1. In high speed blender, combine cashews and water. Blend until smooth.
2. Blend in coconut oil and agave nectar.
3. Remove to bowl and stir in cranberries and pecans.
4. Pour into crust. Refrigerate until set. This will take several hours, you may want to make this the night before.
Top with ganache.
Ganache:
- 1/2 cup cacao powder
- 1/2 cup agave
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1. Whisk all ingredients together.
{ 48 comments… read them below or add one }
omg! everything you make always looks so good! what are your secrets!? lol
Thanks for the awesome class Susan – I loved it – and the tart was DELICIOUS
yum! I could eat that right now.
No secrets, easy peasy!
Thank you…I look forward to making this!
Is there any substitute for coconut oil? My husband is allergic to coconut, we just found out! It’s been challenging with my raw dessert making!
What would you estimate the cost of creating this dessert to be?
It would completely depend on how much you are spending for your ingredients. I have seen cashews anywhere from 5.00 a pound to 9.00 a pound. Everything is listed, including amounts.
This recipe is dependent on the coconut oil for it’s texture and to set up. There are recipes out there that use Irish Moss. But I would not be able to tell you how to substitute it in this one.
THIS LOOKS SOOOOOOOOOOO *YUMMO*. You really make me hungry Susan, each and every time !! It looks quite simple to make too, could give this a try… As I do not have cranberries at hand, I could substitute them for something else… nom !
Thanks for another great recipe. I wished we lived closer, I would have taken advantage of your dessert class. I’ve been to Lakewinds (we have friends that live in Minnetonka), but it is a 350 mile trip for us… I’ll enjoy making this one!
This looks So Delicious, it surprises me that it holds I always think there’s some type of thickener like Irish Moss or something.
I’m definitely going to try making some recipes always felt discouraged because of that.
So cool.
The coconut oil acts as the “thickening” agent. It is liquid when you make it then as it cools it becomes a solid.
can frozen cranberries be used also?
Yes. You would want to thaw and drain them. Check your sweetness level.
Gorgeous! Will definitely be trying this one soon. I’m currently eating your apple/pear salad in your latest cookbook. So fragrant, and yummy!
S
My mouth is simply watering over this. Wonderful. Awesome creation! Thank you so very much. Happy holidays to you and yours…
OH MY GOSH!!! That looks FREAKING amazing!!!
This looks fantastic! I’m trying to decide what to make for the holiday party at work next week. This might be it.
Hey susan thank you! I don’t have a dehydrator (asked santa cor one though)
Will the crust be ok with just soaked & dried almonds?
yummy! I have been trying to get away from agave, do you think coconut sugar would work?
That photo is just insane! I can’t believe the effect it has on the brain just to view something that gorgeously delicious!
Coconut Sugar has an entirely different consistency. You could try it. There is a lot of mis-information out there on agave. I actually love using it. I have a source (Xagave) for organic, raw agave. One of the best things about agave is that you don’t have to use very much to sweeten things. You might want to check out http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400722/Is-Agave-Syrup-Dangerous.html
It looks delicious! Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipe.
For the coconut oil is it the straight coconut oil or is it coconut butter where the pulp is mixed into the oil?
Thank you.
Lois
I used coconut oil. If I use coconut butter, I will state that in the ingredients.
The cranberry pecan torte is delicious but the ingredients was enough for 2 10″ torte pans which I wish I knew ahead of time. I had to transfer everything to a pie plate and I still had too much. Next time I will use 2 pans
I am not sure why this happened for you. I have made this three times…including in a class and didn’t have your issue.
This looks and sounds amazingly good. I think I will try it out over the holidays.
Is there a substitute I can use for the chocolate? I can’t have it but this recipe looks amazing and I would like to try it. Thanks!
I suppose you could try carob powder. But I am not a fan of the taste.
WOW!!!! This was absolutely fantastic. I ate almost the entire torte all by myself. It was simple to make an oh so deliscious. You have quite a talent. Keep um coming!! This is my holiday “bring a dish”.
I made this to take to our family Christmas dinner (along with a few other foods for me to eat). Even the skeptics thought it was delicious. I didn’t have any pecans so I added walnuts. Yum! Will this freeze? I have some leftovers and don’t want to eat the rest right away.
I am trying this recipe now. Why doesn’t the crust recipe call for any sweetener? It tastes awful without sugar. BTW, I have tried other raw cheesecake recipes and this is the first crust with a not-so-great taste. Here’s to hoping that the sweeteners in the filling and topping will help to offset and balance the overall dessert flavor:-) Stay tuned!
The crust is made for the tart, not to be eaten alone. The reason the crust doesn’t have sweetener in it is because there is plenty in the filling and I wanted balance, not a huge sugar rush. I and others have had great success with this recipe. Please know, I would never post something that tasted “terrible”. All of the recipes are made, tested and approved before posted. This recipe is made to be a whole, not parts.
I’m with susan on this one, ZenJqn. How bout we try things and THEN comment on the outcome?
That looks really, really good.
This look way too good to be raw!
Ah…but it is!!
I love this torte! Even my husband and little girl love it and they don’t usually try anything raw.
I’ve already made it twice. The second time I used blueberries because I couldn’t find cranberries. It turned out fabulous both ways!
Thanks!
P.s another one of our favorites is the white chocolate dark chocolate raspberry tart. I make it for family functions and no one ever believes me when I tell them the ingredients! Lol soo yummy!!
This is delicious!
Excellent! I made this two days ago for a dinner party. Didn’t have a 10″ torte so I used a 9″ pie plate. I had extra filling left over but not crust as I made it pretty thick. I didn’t want to waste the filling, so I processed 1/4 cup each of walnuts and raisins and made a crust. Then I lined two Ramekins with the crust, poured in the filling, topped with chopped cranberries and julienned orange peel. It look gorgeous and tasted very good. I think it would have been better; however, if I would have just poured the filling into the Ramekins like a custard.
I just made the torte and ended up with double the filling as well – perhaps its because of the extra water from the soaked almonds? – as I don’t dehydrate them. I dunno – but it looks and tastes delicious so far! The consistency of the crust was perfection! Can’t wait to get the ganache on it and dig in!!
OK that didn’t make any sense because the almonds are in the crust not the filling, sorry – anyway – not sure why I ended up with so much extra filling but I am sure I can find something to do with it all:)
thanks!
Just made this today! So good! This was my first endeavor at making a raw dessert and my husband enjoyed it too
Next time I will add more cranberries, love that flavor! Thank you for this great recipe, and btw I also ended up with extra filling but I just made another torte 
I made this today and let it set for about 8 hours. It was a bit runny, however, it was fabulous!!!!! The combination of the sweet and tart was amazing. We’ll see if it sets more firmly overnight. This is a winner.
Looks and sounds ahh-mazing. Will definitely make that this weekend as well as share with my clients! Thank you. xo
I would just like to be able to print the recipe, with a picture, without all the ads, comments, etc.
Thank you.
Hi,
Your website is aptly named! I love making my own coconut butter. For this recipe, do the almonds need to go through the dehydrator? I don’t have one.
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